Fall for the Book Memoirist Event

On Wednesday September 21, I attended the Fall for the Book event featuring two memoirists. The first was Susan McCorkindale whose most well known publication is 500 Acres and No Place to Hide, her story of being uprooted from New York City and transplanted to a Virginia farm. The second was Katherine Russell Rich who shared her stories of a year living in India from her memoir, Dreaming in Hindi: Coming Awake in Another Language. The event was at 4:30pm in North Dewberry Hall. When I first arrived I was skeptical about two memoirists reading their work because I kind of assumed that the only people who wrote memoirs about themselves were former public figures who want to write their own history before they die. I was foolish to think this because the moment Susan McCorkindale began to read I was absolutely captivated.

She read from a chapter in her memoir titled “I’d like to have a Word with John Wayne. Calling her a fantastic presenter doesn’t do her justice. I have never enjoyed listening to someone read more. She was absolutely hilarious and I felt like she was having a very one-sided conversation with me. Her story about working on a farm in a “low cut top and shorts” was thoroughly entertaining. Unfortunately, I wasn’t as enthralled by Katherine Russell Rich’s reading. Although her words were carefully crafted and her clever sense of humor shown through, her soft-spoken temperament never stood a chance compared to McCorkindale’s. Regardless I thoroughly enjoyed her story of the societal differences in India, like the fact that there is no word for privacy in India.

This reading far exceeded my expectations and I learned a lot from it. I had no idea that ordinary people wrote memoirs and had them published. On top of that I had absolutely no idea that a memoir could be so entertaining, visually stimulating, and exciting. After attending the event I have been inspired to start writing down things that happen to me everyday, kind of like taking notes for my own personal memoir.

Fall For The Book Post

Financial Advisor Ric Edelman Thursday, Sept. 22 at 7pm

With a packed week schedule, my only available time to attend a "Fall for the Book" event was Thursday evening after my class. I looked to see which presentation was available right after my class, and noticed a financial advisor speaking. Having started my school diploma as a business major, I was really excited to see that the presentation was on a subject that I was very much interested in. I knew that this was something I could really benefit from as well so I knew that this presentation was a perfect fit for me.

Upon arrival, I took a seat in the beginning of the room to ensure I could see the speaker well. I looked around and noticed a very diverse crowed of audience members, from undergrads, to elderly, to financial advisors, and more. I looked to be the youngest one in the room, especially sitting in the font of the room. I was very interesting when Mr. Ric Edelman started speaking because it made perfect sense and I was able to understand financial importance in a different way. But the interesting part about his presentation was that it wasn't a presentation, rather a interaction between his audience memebers. Many came in with questions that they have already prepared prior listening to his radio show and from his books. So, he took the time to answer as many questions as he could. Although, I was very impressed with the financial knowledge Mr. Ric had, I did not particularly enjoy the way he connected to the audience. Often times, especially when undergrands were trying to question his statements or get a better understanding of what he means, he publicly would humiliate them by saying phrases such as "don't act like you know so much about finance."He also asked me the question of if I thought 50,000 was a large sum of money individuals are making, and because I earn a very decent salary at my current job I did not nod my head to agree with him. He automatically went to presume that my father is rich and that I don't value money, calling me out in front of the audience when it completely was the opposite of that.

In conclusion, although I was able to took good advice from him in the financial department, the one piece of advice I would have for this speaker is to get more educated on public communication and social skills with his audience.

Fall for the Books: Immigration Panel

"A live Change: A Risk with Every Step"

Date: September 22, 2011

Location and Time: Johnson Center Cinema, 1:30 to 2:45 pm

This Fall for the Book event was a very special one for me. We had three speakers come out to us to talk about Immigration. Judith Freidenburg was one of the speakers that was out there and I was really touched with what she had to say. She focused on Prince William County, which is the county in which I was raised in, and the immigration issues there. She went on with explaining the stories of migrating, stating that most of the people who migrate do it for two reasons, earn money and start a family, the “American dream”.

As she spoke, I couldn’t help but to remember when my mom sat me down one day a couple of years ago to tell me her story. This story that she told me about was one that I was not aware off and a story that explained a lot of things about my mom. I was amazed to hear that she was sent from El Salvador to San Diego just at the age of 16. It wasn’t even her decision to leave; it was her mom’s, due to the fact that El Salvador was going through a civil war. My grandma gathered about $1,500 to have a “Coyote” transport my mom through Mexico and up the US-Mexico border illegally. There are no words to describe what my mom went through as she crossed the border or anyone else, in order to have a better life here in the United States. As Judith Freidenburg explained, all the people who come here illegally live in constant fear of being caught by the police so every step they take is a risk for them. Luckily my mom no longer lives with that fear but the fact is that many other people still do.

Fall for the Book - Stephen King

Last Friday night, I had the privilege of watching acclaimed author Stephen King accept the Mason Award for his “extraordinary contributions to bringing literature to a wide reading public.” When King walked out on stage, you wouldn’t expect to see a man of his caliber accepting an award. He appeared in jeans and red polo, looking more like a man who was testing the sound system than the bestselling author. He started talking about when he first realized his fame had caught up to him, and he lightened the mood by cracking jokes and one-liners. He also discussed his reputation as the “master of horror”, which he jokingly attributes to the timely deaths of Alfred Hitchcock and Rod Serling. King frequently raised a question his mother had asked him: “What is the worst thing you can think of?” King cited this as the primary influence on his work. My favorite moment of the evening was when King read a passage from a novel he is in the midst of writing. It is meant to serve as a sequel to The Shining, made memorable by the 1980 film adaptation starring Jack Nicholson and directed by Stanley Kubrick. King explained that he had always played around with the idea of how Danny moved on from his traumatic experience in The Shining. I found it to be quite a treat, and I am looking forward to its release. Although I must admit that I have never read any of King’s works, I do intend to do so sometime in the future. Stephen King is one of the greatest authors of our generation, and it was a pleasure to watch him in person.

Fall For the Book - Benjamin Percy

First off, I went into the reading completely blind-sided. I had never read a book by Percy or had I ever heard of him. I was determined that I would just go to this so that I could get it over with. He began by giving a small introduction of himself. I remember him saying that he was often inspired by Stephen King and his voice had a horror tone to it. I just knew I would not like this, I'm into love stories and happy stories, not creepy ones. So, he began talking about the process of writing the book and what I remember the most is him saying, "Writing is rewriting." At this point, I looked up and he had my full attention. Deep down, I have a strong passion for writing, but I often feel like I have writer's block and cannot fully form my ideas the way I would like to. He told us that he wrote over 750 pages for 250 page novel. His editor made him rewrite time over time and the procedure became overwhelming so he had to take a five month break after writing the novel. He started reading his novel, and automatically I was mesmerized. The voice that once sounded horrid fit the personality of the character very well and then he started reading about another character, he changed his voice once again. Through his reading, I sensed his passion for writing. At the end of the reading he told us that he never imagined being a writer, he studied archaeology in college. He started writing poems for his girlfriend, now wife, and she told him one day that he should really be a writer. Percy said since then those words have been his biggest motivation. It was an experience to remember.

Response for Fall for the Book.

On Wednesday the 21^st of September I attended Benjamin Percy’s reading of his debut novel “The Wilding”. I had low expectations walking in because his name was unfamiliar and generally, I have not heard of this event before. Surprisingly I found it very intriguing once Percy started reading with his deep and fearsome voice.

 Once Percy was called up he began to introduce himself and talked about the influences in his life which mainly was his father. His father always criticized his stories for being too short. When Percy attempted to write a novel, his dad called it a “schnovel” for being short when he read it.

Benjamin Percy then introduced his debut novel “The Wilding” and he seemed to send a message to everybody that he has excelled above all expectations when he said it was originally seven hundred and fifty pages but had to make it into a two hundred and fifty page book.

The first part he read was about Brian, the American soldier that had come back to Oregon from the war in Iraq. What I clearly noticed about Percy was his mind capturing way of describing and when he writes about a character he puts himself in the character’s shoes and thinks  about what that character would do or say.

For example, the second part he read was about Karen, a woman that is thinking of leaving her marriage and he wrote exactly what she was thinking and it was extremely realistic and believable.

Percy fascinated me so I asked about what made him choose being a writer as a career. I thought he had known from a young age that he was destined to be a writer but was shocked when he said it was recent and that it was a shove from his girlfriend.

-Ali Al-Saadi

Fall For Books

I attended the fall for the book presentation by higher education experts Alexander and Helen Astin on Wednesday 21, at the Dewberry Hall South, at the Johnson Center. Before authors were introduced to us by the moderator and she talked about some of the achievements and accomplishments by Alexander and Helen Astin.   Helen Astin began the presentation by introducing us (the audience) to the book Cultivating The Spirit. How College Can Enhance Student Inner Lives. I basically just went because I had to do it for the class but as Mrs. Helen began talking about how they came up with the idea of researching into how students spirituality develop or  as they attend college, I got interested in the matter they were presenting and not just listening to write a blog on it. She talked about how it is for students to live authentic lives by exploring relationships between religiousness and spirituality. Also by exploring services like the Yoga classes, study abroad programs, student organizations and interracial interactions that colleges provide in order to help students relax. And how they came about their stat were by taking a survey of 3700 freshmen coming into college and after 3 years which was their junior year, they went back to some of the students and the results they received was what they used in writing the book. Moreover, they used the concepts of commitments, engagements, struggles, ethics and other measures to determine the outcomes of their results. In all I found this to be very interesting since I am a student myself and how a research like this could relate to me.

Daniel Abrokwah

09/23/1990

Fall For the Book Response

Date: Thursday. September, 22nd, 2011.

Time: 1:30PM - 2:45PM

Location: Dewberry Hall North, Johnson Center.

Author: Mehdi Aminrazavi

Book: The Wine of Wisdom

On Thursday afternoon, I attended a very interesting reading session with the author Mehdi Aminrazavi. The author is of Iranian origin and Islamic background, and his book discusses the works of a very famous Persian philosopher/scientist: Omar Khayyam. When I was looking through the times of the readings on the little booklet, I couldn't find anything to fit my schedule, then I realized that I had a break between my classes on Thursday. The theme was attractive to me because I grew up in the Middle East. Nourished by an admiration of Khayyam that has been with him since childhood, Aminrazavi's comprehensive new biography reintroduces the figure of Khayyam, and his great achievements, to the Western world. Mixing a readable and accessible narrative with scholarly ambition and years of research, Aminrazavi's work covers not only Khayyam's well-known poetry, but also his extraordinary life, his neglected philosophical writings and the impact of his work in the West. One interesting fact that I learned was that the works of Omar Khayyam were very popular here in America, but specifically in the North. Apparently people in the South hated him, and were fighting his philosophies. I personally found the reading very beneficial. It was great seeing the Western interest and interaction with the author. The hall was of medium size, and there weren't a lot of people. That made it easier for people to ask questions. I noticed that there were a few students taking notes, so I thought to myself "I'm not the only one doing an assignment". I liked the author himself because he was very honest and passionate about the work. Unfortunately I couldn't ask him any questions because he ran out of time, but many others have asked some of the questions that were on my mind. All in all, I felt good about attending the reading. I felt like I learned new things about Iran, or Persia per say.

- Sara

Fall for the Book

The only reading that fit my schedule was on Thursday September 22, 2011 at 8p at the Student Union Building II. The three writers participating in the event read a little bit from their book; Matt Bell introduced his book How They Were Found, Amelia Gray read a couple of her flash stories from AM/PM, and Michael Kimball discussed his new book Us. I have never been at any reading before, thus I did not know what to expect. I assumed the writers will be mostly talking about their books; therefore, I found as much information as I could prior to the reading so I can follow better. To my surprise, the writers opened a discussion, in which most of the people in the audience asked the authors how they became writers. This part of the reading was very interesting to me because I tried to write a novel when I was in high school, and I also brought a friend of mine to the reading event, who currently writes novels. My friend and I learned how consistent one needs to be to finish a book, how patient one must be to handle numbers of publisher’s rejections, and, most importantly, that the majority of writers have a full time job. The writers talked about editing the passages of their book recommended by a particular publisher and that one shouldn’t get discouraged even after 120^th rejection. They mentioned they all were members of some writing club where all the writers share ideas and offer advice, however, they currently have a couple of friends who they share their work with. All three of them were very encouraging for the new writers in the audience.

Hana Pasekova

Fall for The Book: Tuesday September 20 1:30 PM-2:45 PM Writing Africa Panel

Tuesday September 20

1:30 PM-2:45 PM
Writing Africa Panel

On Tuesday September 20 and listened to a group of people who were Nigerian authors Helon Habilaand E.C. Osondu, both winners of the Caine Prize for African Writing, and Susi Wyss, author of The Civilized World, share stories of human life and loss amidst the vibrant, and often violent, backdrop of postcolonial Africa. Theses authors talked about their novels and how their stories not only comes from their heritages but also comes from stories that were told to them when they were kids. The African influence that the novels had gave the novels and rich influence of African Culture. When I was listening to the speakers I was very intrigued to what they had to say because it gave me a sense and feeling that through their novels I felt I could feel they they were trying to convey through their writings. Each author had a deep connection to their writings and when each autor read a short passage from their novel i can see that they had passon and really connected to the story and the characters that were created from what they seen when they were in Africa. The culture and environment that they experience in African was the key inspiration to their novel and how they used that to try to reach other in their writings.

Fall for the Book Response

Time: 12:00PM

Where: JC Cinema

When: Monday, September 19

Who: Legal Scholar, Daniel Sharfstein

I chose to attend this event because I am Criminal Justice major, and the law really catches my interest, and also, in the description of this event, it said that his book explores the topical of racial identity in the US as not just being black or white. To be completely honest, I thought I would be more blown away and intrigued by his presentation, however, I was not.

In his book, he focuses on three separate families around the time of Reconstruction and how it effected the colored families. His goal was to show what it meant to be white and what it meant to be black, and how it changed over time. Of the three families, one owned sugar plantations, another was poor and owned a farm, while the third were rising blacks in the United States. He spoke about how this last family "crossed the white line" and "became white." I suppose that this is where the title of his book comes in: The Invisible Line.

I was getting more, I suppose, offended than becoming fascinated but maybe that was his point. After thinking about it more, I think that was his point: to make people realize the reality by provoking them with the shocking truth. The fact that he was stating things along the line of whites having an advantage in the country bothered me, but I feel like it bothered me because sadly, it's the truth.

Fall for the Book

On Thursday, September 22 I listened to an outstanding panel discuss their experience with poetry and writing about race. The panel discussion took place at 3pm in the Johnson Center Cinema. The panel was made up of R. Dwayne Betts, Martha Collins, Fanny Howe, Claudia Rankine, and Natasha Trethewey.

I attended this event because we are now reading poetry and just finished a novel that had different aspects of race. I thought it would go along with some of the ideas we have already discussed in class and ideas we have not yet covered in poetry. I wanted to understand different messages authors were trying to write about when they were talking about race in their poems. However, I was very surprised with what many of the authors had to say. Most of them said, they do not write about race. It's the reader that finds the connection to race. They believe they are just writing about things they know. It's the reader that always finds the connection between race. If it is a black author writing about a boy, the reader will almost always assume the boy is black even if there is nowhere that says he is.

This really opened my eyes, and after reading some poetry in high school, I couldn't agree more. From now on when I read of poems I will not think about race, unless the poems call for that. I thought it was a great experience and learned a lot.

Fall for the book

Date: September 23, 2011
Time: 4:30 pm
Location: Research 1, Room 163
Authors: Brian Baker, Sarah Perrier, Rebecca Dunham, Cynthia Marie Hoffman and Nadine Sabra Meyer

      I wanted to go to one of the events which could better connect with what we are doing in class. Therefore, I decided to go to 'Breakthrough Poets Panel' which was not necessarily about their books. Instead, they gave their views upon the trends of poetry and the publishing experiences each one on the panel had. Because this was a panel discussion, my response will be a little long. Therefore, the first author who spoke was Rebecca Dunham who wrote the book The Flight Cage.She began to talk about how she went to the book prize contests in order to get her book published. She told the audience that the contests are really expensive. Furthermore, she decided to do PHD which was not a process for getting her book published. Thus, she gave an advise to not to be disheartened if the book doesn't publish soon. Also, she told to trust in your work when putting in manuscript. Next, Nadine Sabra Meyer who wrote the book The Anatomy Theater also talked about her first year of PHD program to publish her first book. Once 12 of her poems were published, she gained more confidence. This confidence gave her strength to polish manuscript of her second book. Finally, she adviced that the poems need to grip the readers' and the judges' attention in order to showcase your skill. Also, themes should be marked if any.
      Next, Brian Baker who wrote the book The Black Ocean began to talk about his career from the very beginning. He talks about his junior in college and once he got out, he applied for PHD for a chance to teach. He got very lucky in his journey of publishing a book according to him, compared to other people on the panel. He began to advice on knowing the presses when sending out the manuscripts and look at the quality of books published by the presses. Furthermore, he began looking at the structure of the poetry books. When publishing your book, he advised to divide them into sections. He also said that grouping prohibits poems to relate to each other thus it can be too predictable. Therefore, in order to keep a sense of surprise, grouping can be avoided to some extent. Also, he brought up the current trends of poetry which are the cohesion and unification of poems as a collection. He also said that poets must be free as a poet and must be aware of the ongoing trends because there must be a reason why the structures are common.
     Next, parallel to Brian Baker's mindset was Cynthia Marie Hoffman who wrote the book Sightseer which was published in February of 2011. For her, getting her book published was almost a life changing experience and it changed the stature. She said it takes almost 9 years on an average to get a book published. The number of times she sent her manuscript is astonishing. She sent it 232 times over 7 years and spent a total of $5,500. Once it was published, she was awarded $1,000 which was not worth the money she spent but the 'wall' had been broken down. She advices to feel free to write and not think about what the readers want. According to her, it is an investment in yourself and the poetry career. Next and the last author was Sarah Perrier who wrote the book Nothing Fatal. She says that having options helped her in life since writing the book was never her only option. She also took the route of PHD and while for 7 years, she sent her manuscripts, she told the audience to have something that you love doing. Also, she adviced to find someone who is very critical of your writing in order to get good feedback. She adds as she says to not sacrifice the quality of the poems and trust yourself.
        Going into this discusison, I really expected them to talk about the current structures and ways of witing poetry. However, I was disappointed in that regard as they only talked about the collections of poems and not individual poems. However, their experiences and the passion for having their book published were immensely insipirational. Each one of them had to go through several steps before getting to where they are and up the stairs of their careers. From the discussion, I learned a more general idea of trusting in your own work and to be patient. Based on their experiences, I more general ideas about life that there are obstacles in life but being patient and just constant effort result in your favor. Thus, it was a great experience to actually meet the authors of the books and to hear their experience from when they were where I am right now.

Fall for the Book Response

I attended the Stephen King reading which took place at the Concert Hall in the Center for the Arts Building at 7:30pm on September 23, 2011. The Congressman and Mayor of Fairfax both preceded his appearance in which they briefly informed the audience about the award he would be receiving. Then Stephen King came out from back stage. He didn't begin with his reading. Instead, he first spoke with the audience about what his whole thought process is when he writes which was, in my opinion, very comical. It was a very good way to answer a question each member of the audience wonders about any author who's material they read. He mentioned his mother, who had posed the question to him, "What is the worst thing you can think of"? From that, I suppose it served as this blank canvas for him to write about the horror stories he is so well known for. This portion of his performance was the majority. He also, in this introduction, talked to the audience in a light-hearted manner which put us all at ease when we laughed at him. Then when he was finished with this segment of his appearance, he moved to the reading. He read us a portion of a piece he is not yet finished with entitled, Dr. Sleep. (I think that is what he said it was called). It was basically, a somewhat haunting, stereotype of people who live and travel in RV's. (not to spoil it for those interested in reading the finished product). Then he proceeded with a question and answer segment which had basically covered ideas covered in his introduction with the exception of a few. Afterwards, the Mayor of Fairfax presented him the his award and the event had come to an end.
I decided to go to this particular event not because I had read any of his books, but because he was the only author I recognized. That being said, I did enjoy my time at the event. He could probably be a successful comedian too. If I enjoyed reading like I used to, I would probably try to read at least one of his books. Not that they don't sound interesting, after the comments made about them, but I don't like anything scary. One of the most interesting things I learned is that he used to be a teacher in Maine before he was accepted to write full time. I thought that was interesting. Some special group of students out there actually had the opportunity to learn first hand from one of the most successful writers in the world. But most of all, he is a really down-to-earth guy who just enjoys writing. I don't know why so many people think that famous figures in society are anything but ordinary. Some just have talents they can be successful at and make a living off of. Overall, I am glad I went to see Stephen King. That was my first time attending Fall for the Book or any book-reading.

Casi Flordeliza

Fall for The Book: Dr. Andre Perry

On Tuesday, September 20th in Sub I, I got the pleasure of listening to Dr. Andre Perry in a very intimate setting. There was no more than 6 students there for the reading, so it was very interactive.

"The Garden Path" is a fictitious novel, although it was based on the real-life experiences of Dr. Perry himself. The story line follows what Dr. Perry went through administrating 4 charter schools in New Orleans POST-Katrina. He explained how the school board fired most of the teachers in New Orleans because the schools were so terrible and handed them over to people like him who wanted to change them for the better. He gave an example of how bad the schools were by telling us that one of their high school's valedictorians couldn't even pass the general exit exam, which is on a 10th grade level.

Dr. Perry's main focus in his life and in his lecture was to stress the importance of education. He told us all to stay in school and to become experts in our fields so that we may teach others. He believes in helping others through education, especially like the underprivileged people in New Orleans who didn't have the means to vacate the city when the storm hit.

Dr. Perry was very interesting because he was so passionate about his work and the advancement of his people. He was also very down to earth and interacted with us all as if he was one of us.

Fall for the Books

This past Wednesday at 4:30 I attended a Fall for the books reading in Dewberry hall about memoirs.  There were two authors that spoke at this event and they were Katherine Russel Rich and Susan McCorkindale.  Katherine Russel's book that she read from was titled Dreaming in Hindi: Coming Awake in Another Language.  Growing up she was always interested in foreign languages and decided to immerse herself in the Hindi culture.  The section that she read from was from the beginning of the book where it talked about her experience with living with many different families in one home. She said that she gave the people in the story different names because to her they all sounded familiar.  The second author, Susan McCorkindale her book was titled 500 Acres and No Place to Hide.  She grew up in the city and then moved south to a farm.  The section that she read from was about learning to cope with nature and her surroundings.  I thought that both of the book were very interesting, but I also thought that they were pretty different.  I thought that McCorkindale's book was very comedic and she really tied to make her readers laugh, with both the content of the story and the way that it was told.  I did enjoy Russel's reading however to me it felt a little more serious and more confusing to follow because she changed the names of some of the people in the story. 

After the readings the floor was open for some questions.  One of the questions was is it difficult to write a memoir after the fact and have to recall the memories.  For Russel she said that while she was in India she constantly took notes so that she would remember events that happened.  McCorkindale did not take notes but she said that for her she did not have trouble recalling memories worth writing about.  Another audience member asked if they told the people that they were being written about in their memoir.  And both author's agreed that they told everyone who was in the book that they were mentioned in the writing.  Both of the authors had great things to say and I enjoyed their readings.  I hope some day to read both of their memoirs. 

Fall for the Book Post

I attended the reading on Thursday, September 22 at noon in the JC Cinema. The reading was by Memoirist Merri Lisa Johnson author of Girl in Need of a Tourniquet. The author didn't start off with the reading right away, but just started talking about random tidbits. In the beginning she talked about how she likes this certain author (I can't remember the name) because the author goes from book reading to commentary very smoothly and she wanted to be able to do that too. Then when she started her reading she was very dynamic and energetic. She put in a lot of feeling within her reading and she would also tell us the title of the chapter she was reading, but would change the title names to fit with the context of the reading she was doing at the moment. She also said that she wanted to become a "slam memoirist" like pose poetry artists and the author was just very honest about everything like about her borderline personality disorder she had.

I really liked this reading because I wasn't bored at all for even one second of he reading; the author was that energetic and when she read I could feel the feelings coming out of the book and I could feel the feeling that were written in her book. I think that I learned more about the border personality disorder that she had and I could understand it more and the wrong connotations that come with this disorder. I liked how she was really honest and didn't try to hid any facts about herself. She also talked about how her book wasn't about the healing process or treatment and it was just about the pains that she had through her disorder and such and I found that very different from other writers because most of them write about the pains and then also include their process of healing and treatment.

Fall for the Book

For this assignment, I attended Merri Lisa Johnson’s presentation on her book Girl in Need of a Tourniquet. This was in the JC Cinema at noon on Thursday September 22nd. Once Johnson took the podium she mentioned a few things not having anything to necessarily do with the book. A specific comment that stuck out to me was when she thanked a student for picking her up at the airport and she mentioned that she doesn’t feel right in cars and how there’s something about break lights that freaks her out, PTSD. I believe she started with this because it kind of tells us about her and one of her underlying issues. When it came to the presentation, she said that she was trying something new and I believe that she nailed it. I'm not really sure the best way to describe this, but she wanted to blend in her actual comments with the story she was telling. She mentioned that Agusta did this well and she based her presentation off of that style. Merri Lisa Johnson was a great public speaker and I really like how she broke down her presentation into chapters. She would tell us, the audience, the name of the chapter in the book and then she gave us a name as if she was renaming it. She went through the first three chapters by reading some of the text and also inserting her own comments along the way, some about her and some about other writers. Throughout this I learned a lot, I learned about her as a person, PTSD, and borderline personally disorder. She was great about telling us the real her, she didn’t try to hide anything and that was one of her main points. She commented about how BPD is portrayed as dangerous to others and she hates that. She said that although BPD has flaws it also has gifts such as, it served her well as a writer and as a feminist. Overall, I really wasn’t expecting anything out of this simply because I have never been to one of these events before. So to answer the question did it meet my expectation, I would have to say “I loved it.” I had fun attending this and I think that I am going to buy the book; she drew me to it and in some way inspired me.

Fall for the Book

I went to the performance of Benjamin Percy. It was held Wednesday, September 21, at the Johnson Center Cinema. Going into this event I had no idea what to expect. My mind was racing as I took a seat. I gazed about the audience and saw that there were students and adults along with their children. Then, out of nowhere the audience went silent and the opening speaker came on stage. He introduced himself and then went right into why we were all there. He briefly gave a run down on the author and his many accomplishments. We applauded at once as the author entered the stage; it was show time. He began speaking about how he got involved into writing not only novels but short stories as well. He spoke about how becoming a writer never crossed his mind until he met his girlfriend, who is now his wife. She inspired and pushed him in that direction, after receiving many beautifully written poems and letters. The more and more he spoke, he engaged the audience with witty comments that kept us laughing and just pure knowledge about writing. It was never a dull moment. He picked 2 characters from his work and spoke in different tones for us to get the full effect of who the character is and their position in the novel. I really enjoyed how he portrayed them, because it gave a clear picture as to what the novel is about and the message he is trying send. Lastly, he read from his short story he had been working on. That too was interesting and fun to hear. All in all, this was a great experience. I can honestly say he has a lot of dedication behind what he does and he truly enjoys every minute of it. One thing I can say I left with that night was this little quote he said; "To rewrite is to write". No matter how many edits, or drafts he has to do, he will write pages and pages just to satisfy his editor and colleague's around. This stuck with me because, no matter how many times you have to edit a paper it will be beneficial in the long run. Benjamin Percy is what I call a true writer.

Fall for the Book...

On Wednesday night, I attended a Fall for the Book presentation at Harris Theatre. The featured author was Connor Grennan, who wrote the book Little Princes: One Man's Promise to Bring Home the Lost Children of Nepal. I was so excited to attend this event as I, along with my mom and sisters, read this book over the summer and really enjoyed it. I could not believe that we were actually going to see the author in person! During the presentation, Grennan gave a brief summary of his adventures in the book. He explained why he went to Nepal, what he learned there about child trafficking, and why he felt compelled to start a non-profit organization to rescue trafficked Nepalese children. It was also really neat to see his pictures of Nepal that were playing in the background during the presentation. At the end, there was a question and answer time where he explained in more detail his organization, Next Generation Nepal, and what they are doing currently. I truly enjoyed this presentation. It was informing, humorous, and, at times, very sobering. When Grennan described how horribly traffickers had treated many Nepalese children, I felt so saddened that such gross injustice still occurs today. I also gained a greater appreciation for Grennan’s organization and their mission to rescue trafficked children and return them to the families from which they were so cruelly stolen. This event exceeded my expectations, and I only wish that I could have spent more time with the author to learn more about him and the amazing work he is doing for the lost children of Nepal.

FFTB Reaction/Response

Date: Tuesday September 20, 2011

Location: Harris Theater

Author: James Hornfischer

Book: Neptune's Inferno 

 

I went to the reading with Avan so I apologize if some of this is a reiteration. I tried not to read his response beforehand so I don't say the same things over.

So going into this reading I really had no idea what to expect. Is this author an older gentleman? The topic was on a battle in WWII and I did not know if maybe he had been in it and was discussing his own personal experience. I did not know the background of the author but that did not change the information he provided his audience with. We were definitely the youngest people in the audience which is probably why the speaker did not go into great detail about the time period right around the battle he was talking about. There was a group of 10-15 marines sitting right in front so that is probably part of the reason that there was no reason to provide additional information. Most of the people in the audience had relatives that were alive during this time period, if they were not alive themselves.  I was not expecting the author to be in his 50s though. He was very passionate nonetheless.

During the reading and the presentation the author was introduced onto the stage after a short introduction of his books and a brief history of his life.  Immediately the author jumped into his topic of the war and this one battle that took place over two and a half hours.  Don't get me wrong, it was a very interesting and inspiring reading. The authors entire reading was filled with facts and knowledge. Anybody who was listening could easily tell that this man knew a great deal about the war and his topic of his books. If you had no previous knowledge, however, it was very hard to follow along with.  He spoke as if you had read his books and as if you knew what he knew about the war and the specific battle. As Avan said, I would like to go to another one to see if my reaction would be the same as this one. Overall it was definitely worth it.

Fall For The Book Post

Date: Tuesday September 20, 2011

Location: Harris Theater

Author: James Hornfischer

Book: Neptune's Inferno

At the event before the author came to the stage there was a formal introduction about the author. The opener spoke about the author's background history and his career as a writer. When the author first came to the stage he quickly began talking about his book. Another side note that is interesting to me is the fact that majority of his audience was elderly people. From the audience you can tell the type of attraction the author brings to his books Mr. Hornfischer first started again giving the audience some insight about his life before he started becoming a writer. Then followed with talking about the different characters in the book. What he said about the characters from his book was speak about them that would give the reader a better understanding of who they were.

When I first was going to the event I thought the author would just talk about his process in writing the book. What inspired him? How long did it take him? However, Hornfischer spoke to the audience as if they had already read his book. It was hard to follow if you had not read the book. There were a couple things that I did pick up from the speaker. His "inspiration" for writing the book was that he wanted to write and tell about a battle that most people did not know about. From that it let me know that Hornfischer is an author that seeks to inform his audience and not merely entertain. The event was an interesting experience and I would like to go to another one of an author whom I am familiar with to give a proper opinion of it I like it or not.

The heart really is a lonely hunter

In the novel “The heart is a lonely Hunter” it is said that it has a central idea of not fitting in, of being a freak, or a misfit. In the novel I believe that Biff Brannon has a somewhat of a disconnection from his wife because his wife says he is a freak because he like freaks. Biff is a healthy person who has a strong connection to the physically deformed that to me shows inner weakness within him. Because of this weakness Biff has the inability to connect to his wife and is even more drawn away from society. The other main characters shows signs of social weakness. Mick Kelly, the only female in the group, is a young girl, wielding no real authority but burdened with responsibility for her younger brothers. She tries to enhance her stature by acting tough, using a boy’s name and dressing boyishly and smoking, but her false strength is revealed by the fear she has of being found out after her first sexual encounter. Another character Jake Blount’s weakness is alcoholism, which keeps him from following through with any plans hetrys makes, He is hard to understand when he trys to talk because he is drunk. Dr. Copeland has to deal with the tuberculosis that is eating away his body.

Carson McCullers’s heart really is a lonely hunter

This is a summary of the after doing the presentation the book and know the background of Carson McCullers, the book became clearer and I understood it more. She basically wrote the book about her life experiences. For instance the use of music in the book. McCullers did play the piano at some point in her life and she incorporated that into her book. She had to stop playing the piano which could be compared to when she stated "there was no music" and on a more serious note this quote had a hidden mean that pertained to Singers death. Mick was gradually getting attached to Mr. Singer and after his suicide "it was like she was shut out from the inside room" (McCullers, 353). This inside room which could have been a place for her to take refuge. Also there were incorporation of homosexuality in the book too. When Biff Brannon puts on Alice’s perfume and redoes the room. McCullers herself and her husband once experienced homosexuality which resulted in them breaking up and remarrying years later. This book was more than a book. It revealed soo much about the author and her life experiences.

"The Heart is a Lonely Hunter" by Carson McCullers

"When they were gone Singer stood alone in the room, and as he did not understand the situation he wanted to forget it. He decided to write to Antonapoulos that night." (McCullers, 212)

This quote describing how Singer felt after his guests left the room without any communication to each other really summarized Singer's character to me. We can tell that he truly only feels himself and comfortable when Antonapoulos is there and he can only shares his thoughts and feelings to him. Although, to most of the other characters he is portrayed as a "GOD" symbol, as someone who understands and sympathizes with others, he really is as confused of an individual as most of the other characters are. While he seems to easily be able to help others which problems and concerns, he cannot help himself. Him wanting to forget the situation as soon as the guests leave also portrays a lack of care from his part. Rather than trying to understand why his guests have such an easy time talking to him, but cannot seem to have any sort of communication with each other, Singer's main concert is establishing a connection and communication with Antonapoulos. This quote also helped me understand and evolve with a theme to the book, which is that although we may think verbal communication is the strongest form of communicating with other humans, connection and bond with people is often a lot stronger than we may judge it to be. 

The Heart is a Lonely Hunter

“Each one of them looked at Singer as though in expectation.”

This sentence stuck out to me in Carson McCuller’s The Heart is a Lonely Hunter because it illustrates how many of the characters have come to depend on John Singer. When they are alone with Singer, they find it easy to talk to him despite his handicaps. They are mesmerized by his ability to connect with them on a level that could only be described as intimate. However, they fall silent when others are in the room. This may be because the characters are of different genders, ethnicities, and ideologies. The tension in the room emphasizes the themes of loneliness and isolation that are prevalent in the novel. Each character copes with their loneliness by finding someone to connect with. For many of the characters, Singer is that someone. For Singer himself, he feels that the only person who can understand him is Antonapoulos. When Singer visits Antonapoulos at the asylum, there is a brief sentence that mentions another man in the ward with Antonapoulos: “He [Singer] envied the old man because he lived with Antonapoulos day after day. Singer would have exchanged places with him joyfully (McCullers, 191).” We don’t realize how badly Singer wants to be with Antonapoulos until the end of the second part in the novel.

The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter 9/21

I can not believe I actually enjoyed a novel as I did this one. This novel is not a book I would normally pick up and find very interesting and in most cases did not want to put down. McCullers had a unique way in presenting each characters personality and how each character took to one another. They all were connected to Mr. Singer oddly, but had no connection amongst one another. One of the main themes I saw that stuck out to me was heroism. Throughout the novel. each character looked at Mr.Singer as a Godly figure. Though words were never spoken, his presence alone said enough. Also, his love he exemplified for Antonapoulos, showed how he could love someone without receiving the same unconditional love in return. Another hero that began to emerge close to the end of Part 2, was Mick. She truly began to mature all of a sudden. She always had love for her younger brother Bubber; even after the incidence with him and baby. "In the dark she put her arms around him and held him very close. She touched him all over and kissed him everywhere...The love she felt was so hard that she had to squeeze him to her until her arms were tired" (138). Like Singer had unconditional love for his friend Antonapoulos, Mick had unconditional love for Bubber. He was even considered a part of her inside room, which was sacred and passionate to her. Another heroic example of Mick, which was a big one, was when Mick considered to get a job to help her family financially. She also saw this as a way to be able to purchase things of her enjoyment as well. "Ten dollars a week would buy about fifteen fried chickens. Or five pairs of shoes or five dresses. Or installments on a radio. She thought about a piano, but she did not mention that aloud" (241). Although, her parents weren't really supportive at first, they knew it was their only option to help keep things afloat. Mick grew up even more when taking this step, which changed her character in a sense. Mick was not the little girl at the beginning, who was venturing throughout the neighborhood in her own little world. She was slowly becoming a part of the family, and by her getting the job was the changing factor. - Diamond Quarles

The Heart is a Lonely Hunter Response

"Singer was bewildered. Always each othem had so much to say. Yet now that they were together they were silent. When they came in he had expected an outburst of some kind. In a vague way he had expected this to be the end of something. But in the room there was only a feeling of strain. His hands worked nervously as though they were pulling things unseen from the air and binding them together."

We discussed part of this passage yesterday in class but I wanted to give my full opinion on what I was interpreting from the reading. This I think says a lot about the relationships and connections between the characters. It is clear that Singer is very uncomfortable in the situation. It says a lot about how he directly feels about the characters...in that he doesn't truely favor all of them, or care enough specifically about one person. The only person he cares enough to share his feelings about is Anatopoulous. We see this by the amount of presents he sends to him as well as the fact that he decides to write a letter to him. However, the other characters feel that they have a stronger connection with Singer, because they look at him to say something....but he doesn't. It is also interesting to see that even though they are all connected to the same person, they can't build connections with each other. I think Singer feels like they should be able to since they all have so much to say in general. But I think McCuller's is trying to show that it is difficult to make connections and that it is honestly not always reciprocated back. I also feel that the characters are selfish...because they always put their needs on Singer, and in a way they use him to relieve themselves from their "inside world."

-Lena

September 20th Response

Just as about everyone else has chosen a quote and discussed its meaning and their response to it, I will do the same. The quote I have chosen was also the one that I said aloud in class, and I know a few other people may have already done it and may do it but I thought it was a very important passage from the reading.

"Always each of them had so much to say. Yet now that they were together they were silent." (McCullers 179)

McCullers goes on to mention how it was almost as though each person that Singer interacted with was a spoke in a wheel and Singer himself was the hub, or the center point. The meeting point. The most important part of a wheel. The part that has to be the strongest. Trust me, you can ride a bike missing a spoke or two, but without the hub, you have nothing.  This is the same in the novel. Everybody relies on Singer to always be there to listen and to help the characters through their hardships.  Singer is the middle of the wheel with many connections.  Back to the quote, however. When the spokes of a wheel are in the right place, they do not touch. So when each character is alone with Singer they can speak freely and have not a care in the world about any other problems.  If spokes touch though, or if two characters interact in the presence of Singer when they are used to just one-on-one with him, conflicts will occur.  If two of your spokes are touching each other, or in a place not natural to their comfort, there will be problems.  The wheel will start to spin out of balance, throwing everything off.  That is just with two spokes, you can only imagine what four would do.  When all four of them were in the room with Singer they were so far from their normal experience with Singer that they said nothing at all.  Singer was put under a great amount of stress and tension, getting pulled from all sides, just as the hub of a wheel is.

The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter

"Singer read what he had written and the spots of color drained from his cheekbones instantly...Antonapoulas was dead (323-324)."

At this moment to me it was the end of existence for Singer. I did not know that he would kill himself just a few paragraphs later, but I knew as a character he would not be active anymore. He never talked, but there was always a vibe that came from Singer. That "vibe" would no longer penetrate. I feel as though everyone vented their feelings to Singer and he would soak them all in, but at the same time he wondered why they all chose to come to him. For him, he couldn't just express himself to any person, it was his best friend that he shared his thoughts with. Sometimes he would wait six long months to do this because Antonapoulas could not read, but when Singer visited him at the asylum they "talked" in a weird way. When he read the announcement that Antonapoulas was dead, a big piece of him died. Most people find it normal to grieve over a loved-ones death, but this was a deep onset depression. Singer did spend some of his time with other people, but it seemed that Antonapoulas was the only one who truly understood him. Living in a world where no one understands you is like living in a world with no air. Antonapoulas' death lead to the demise of Singer. Others that were left behind may not have understood his suicidal motives, but that's because they never truly understood Singer.

Heart is a Lonely Hunter: Reading Response 9/21

"The grief-bound voices of his people. And also the voice of the dead. Of the mute Singer, who was a righteous white man of understanding" ( McCullers 257).

There are two things that stood out two me while reading that passage. It's important to understand that this is quote is coming out of the point of view of Dr. Copeland. The first thing that stood out was that he mentions the voice of singer, who doesn't make any noise cause he is mute. It's just interesting that he hears a voice from him as Singer never said I single sound through out the novel. I think there might be a deeper meaning when he refers to the voice of Singer. I believe that he is referring to his presence. Even if Singer never said a word he had a very strong presence because everywhere he was, he was somehow noticed.

Another thing that stood out to me was the fact that Dr. Copeland says "...a righteous white man of understanding", and I think that is exactly how Dr. Copeland viewed him as. Specially with how he had the whole idea of having equality among the different race classes and at the time the white people were more "powerful" and Dr. Copeland did not like that.

Luis Aguirre

The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, Reading Response 9/20

When I finished reading “The Heart is a Lonely Hunter” I began to realize an underlying theme in the novel. This theme is coping with frustration. It was obvious throughout the entire book that many of the characters live sad and unfulfilled lives but it took me awhile to tie it all together. The most prominent and tragic example of a character coping with frustration is John Singer. The death of his friend and inability to really express himself to others come to a climax in the novel at the end of part 2. “Then when he had washed the ashtray and the glass he brought out a pistol from his pocket and put a bullet in his chest” (McCullers, 326).

The second and less drastic example is Jake Blount. He is beyond obsessed with American society. He can’t stand the fact that a small few elite citizens control almost all of the wealth and impose low wages and harsh conditions on the workers while the elite continue to grow richer. Blount deals with his frustrations by binge drinking and ranting about his concerns to anyone who will tolerate his irate behavior. His final coping mechanism is to leave the town entirely, “Jake walked steadily. As soon as the town was behind a new surge of energy came to him” (McCullers, 350).

Both of these main characters had different ways of dealing with their frustration. One chose death and the other chose a new start in a different place. I wasn’t surprised with what Singer did because him being a mute is what caused a lot of his frustration. However, Blount seems to have moved from town to town before. I wonder how many he would go to before his lifestyle catches up to him.

The Heart is a Lonely Hunter Reading Response

You Never See it Coming.

McCullers's book The Heart is Lonely Hunter is truly unique. I have never read something quite like it. Her style is very bold and sharp. The way she writes about the unspoken issues within the self has emerged through her choice of characters. But something else did strike me while reading. Every time there was a big event coming up, she would lead up to it very sneakily. The way she writes is like she is singing a lullaby or simply describing the scenery. Not once did I expect any of the major events that happened, and for example: Bubber shooting Baby. The whole time I was reading, all I could think about was that I was reading about a bunch of little kids playing around in the neighborhood. Yes, the idea of them playing around with a weapon was a little odd, but the way McCullers smoothly put her words together made it seem OK. Then she went on describing Bubber's dreamy and bubbly thoughts about Baby's costume, so I started imagining pretty things like the color of pink and the sight of rainbows and Baby's beautiful golden curls. Then suddenly, "he was too quick for Mick to stop him. She had seen his hand on the trigger when there was the terrible ping of the gun"(McCullers 167). Boom, Baby was shot. I just find it very clever how the author injects those surprises in small doses, yet their effects are huge throughout the story because everything becomes based on what had just happened. It is truly very clever and I enjoyed that aspect of her writing, because she knew exactly how to add the surprise factor.

- Sara Benrazek

The Heart is a Lonely Hunter

"Yet now that they were together they were silent" (McCullers, 210).

This sentence stood out to me a lot throughout the rest of the novel. It encompassed the sense of loneliness there was throughout the book because even when all the characters are together they can't seem to interact. While all the characters were in the room together they ended up just doing what they normally do when they're alone and the only person they ever relied on was Singer.

I think that the characters found their hope and belief in Singer. Singer can be described as "tabula rasa" in this novel because he is virtually everyone's blank slate as they all put their own perceptions and beliefs of Singer on him, so he is a different person for everyone in the novel.

I also thought that the structure of this novel was very interesting. Each chapter had only one perception of one character which is like how each character portrayed are lonely just like the chapters in the book. The novel was a compilation of all these "lonely" chapters and they never really crossed as each chapter till the end was only written in one perception at a time, just as when the characters all met in Singer's room they couldn't connect and couldn't interact with each other.

Reading Response 9/20

"Always each of them had so much to say. Yet now that they were together they were silent" (McCullers 210).

I believe this line reflects one of the main themes in the novel, which is being a misfit. While individually each character always had so much to say when they were with John Singer, when they were all present together, none of them knew how to interact and talk about what was on their minds. All of them really only had one real friend, in John Singer. For examples, Mick was stuck between her "inside" and "outside" world, and while Biff is a good overall guy, he didn't have anyone to talk to, not even his wife, while she was alive. The only person they would like to talk with was John Singer, and he was a mute, which makes him a misfit at the time as well. I also think this reflects McCullers directly, and how she was somewhat of a misfit in her lifetime. After researching and learning about Carson McCullers it is clear that some of these characters portray herself in different ways. For one example, Mick's love for music. McCullers shared this same love. Also, McCullers had homosexual relationships and in some characters you can trace evidence of homosexuality. I think one of the main themes in this novel is being an outcast from others and I think it directly relates to McCullers being an outsider in her lifetime.

Reading Response Journal 9/21

"But now there was no music. That was the funny thing. It was like she was shut out from the inside room." (McCullers, 353)

In this quote McCullers is trying to convey the feeling of distress and unhappiness that Mick is feeling after Singer has taken his life.  I found this quote very interesting because for Mick it was certainly a realization of how much singer meant to her.  She always referred to the inside room when she was with him or was talking about him, and now that he was not there she is unable to connect with that part of her mind.  It is almost as though Singer was the human form of her inside room.  Because with him she is able to share things that she has not with anyone else.  Her time with singer was her favorite part of her daily routine, she listened to his radio that he had and her love for music grew stronger and stronger.  When she was in her inside room she wrote music and orchestrated her thoughts.  Singer and the inside room to her definitely come hand in hand and with singer not there, it is though she is missing an essential piece of herself.  Singer and Micks inside room are also deeply related because neither of them would respond to what she has to say, they both just listened to her thoughts.  Even thought Singer could not physically hear the music that she listened to, Singer was still able to see and reaction and understand the feelings she was expressing.  Music and Singer were very important to Mick and without one she can not connect with the other.